Savio Hon Tai-Fai, S.D.B. Member of the International Theological Commission, Hong Kong

On 29 June we celebrated the feast of St. Peter. The Words from the
dialogue between Jesus and Peter in the Gospel still resonate. "Who do
you say that I am?" Jesus asked. "You are the Christ, the Son of the
living God". "Blessed are you. Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood
has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to
you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the
gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it".

The promise of Jesus reminds me of the
Letter of Benedict XVI to the
Church in China published one year ago on 30 June 2007. I asked people
around how they felt about the Letter. Many of them did not read the
entire text. They had only a faint idea about the appeal of the Pope for
reconciliation and unity. Upon my asking, they often turned to me with
great interest requesting me to explain the Letter to them.

A friend of mine, James, was among them. He is a Chinese from
Singapore working in Mainland China. Out of great curiosity he tried to
read this Letter. After a few lines, he gave up admitting that it was
beyond his comprehension. Those few lines were quoted from Scripture
(Col 1:3-5, 9-11) with a wish, "May you be strengthened". It is with
these words of the Apostle Paul that the Holy Father wished to convey
the expression of his fraternal closeness. As the Successor of St.
Peter, Pope Benedict in his Letter would like to strengthen the faith of
the Catholics in China.

James is a middle-aged businessman, a non-practicing Catholic having
little knowledge of Scripture and no idea of the situation of Church in
China. It is little wonder that he could not understand the Letter. But,
strange enough, after listening to my short explanation, he seemed to
have got a "click" in his mind. He sensed something powerful and
mysterious behind the Church in these years of turmoil and wanted to
attain that power. In fact, he started taking his faith more seriously.

The Letter of the Pope was written with an earnest trust in Jesus
Christ who is the same "yesterday and today and for ever". He is "the
key, the centre and the purpose of the whole of human history". The
faith of Peter was a gift from the heavenly Father, and hence it became
a beginning of many other gifts. In fact, Peter was also given the keys
to the Kingdom of heaven. "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in
heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven".

On and off I met some priests from China. Most of them were of the
so-called Official Church. I asked them about their feedback to the
Letter. Here are the three things I often heard.

Charity, clarity and unity

First of all, the Letter was written with both charity and clarity.
It is charity with which the Pope appeals for reconciliation and
forgiveness. It is clarity with which he makes it clear that the Church
in China should be built on the same rock of Peter through the communion
of the Bishops with the Pope. Thus, any Episcopal ordination requires
the Apostolic Mandate from the Pope. This is a matter of faith —
something unrenounceable.

Secondly, the Letter touched the crux of the problem — the root cause
of the rupture of unity. The appeal to charity cannot ignore those who
are responsible for such a rupture. In recent years the Church has
enjoyed greater religious freedom than in the past, but grave
limitations still remain. Such limitations being harmful to the Church
and having no gain for the State are totally unnecessary.

The Church has no intention to change the structure of the State. The
Catholics are motivated by faith to be good citizens, and
active contributors to the common good. "Living by faith", one priest
said, "we can genuinely promote harmony in our society". Incidentally,
"harmony in society has become a slogan for the entire nation".

Thirdly, the Catholics in China have been asked to ignore the Letter.
The Letter was yanked from the web-sites. Priests or pastoral assistants
have been advised not to talk about it. All this effort, as one priest
remarked ironically, was just enough to whet people's appetite for the
search of it.

There was another incident. In the Letter, the Pontiff dedicated 24
May (the Feast of Mary Help of Christians) to be the World Day of Prayer
for the Church in China. Every year many pilgrims organize by group go
to the Basilica of Sheshan (dedicated to Mary Help of Christians). For
this occasion Pope Benedict composed a prayer to Our Lady of Sheshan.
This year on that day many past pilgrimages to Sheshan had to be
cancelled. Only controls and interference remained the order of the day.

What will be the next move of the Church? To this question, I often
saw smiles that signal a kind of "don't know yet but let us see". The
Pontiff himself is aware that reconciliation cannot be achieved
overnight. Patience and prayers are required. Of course in the Letter
there are practical guidelines for pastoral care.

The Bishops are reminded of the principle of communion and
cooperation. By and large, Church unity and the spiritual good of the
faithful are the major concern. Pope Benedict also revokes all the
faculties previously granted in order to address particular needs. The
faculties include the possibility of allowing some Bishops even to
administer episcopal ordination secretly in extreme cases. The act of
revoking the faculties is to avoid confusion, and would make Church life
more transparent to the public.

Church and State issues

Furthermore, the Letter contains messages for the Chinese government.
The concrete forms of communication and cooperation between the Holy See
and the People's Republic of China may hopefully be established soon.
The normalization of relations between both is earnestly hoped for; or
at least the Holy See for its part is open to negotiations.

One year after the publication of the Letter, while approaching the
grand opening of Olympic Games, both parties do not seem to draw closer.
The impasse in negotiations were reported by the media long before the
publication of the Letter.

It is interesting to note that the so-called impasse have been
repeatedly brought out ever since July 2007 in the public celebrations
of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Catholic Church Patriotic
Association (CCCP). Actually there are two impasse according to CCCP.
One is that the Vatican is the only government in Europe to
recognize Taiwan. Another is that the Pope wishes to appoint Bishops in
Mainland China. Hence, to clear away the impasse, according to China,
the Vatican should sever "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan and renounce
the wish to appoint Bishops.

As for the first impasse, the solution seems to be much easier. If an
agreement is reached between the Holy See and China, the transfer of the
Apostolic Nunciature to Beijing can take place at any time. However, it
is not easy to reach such an agreement, because the appointment of
Bishops by the Pope is seen as interference in the internal affairs of
China. That is why the Pope in his Letter explains at length that the
episcopal appointment by the Pope is purely a religious matter, and that
the Catholic Church must be given freedom to do so.

Some Chinese priests went for the Golden Jubilee ceremonies of the
CCCP in a diocese. They told me that the Government Officials in
delivering their speeches held a very conciliatory tone admonishing
people to work for the harmony of the society. However, the tone of CCCP
members in their speeches sounds more aggressive, even accusing the
Vatican of interfering in internal affairs. They vowed to adhere to
independent election and ordination of bishops and management of their
Churches. One priest, an influential member of the CCCP, spoke up during
the meeting. While, he said, many merits of the CCCP should be given due
recognitions, care must be taken that the Church unity must be
maintained. What is the use, after all, if a local Church is removed
from the "main trunk" of unity? The priest tried to hint that the "main
trunk" was used as an analogy to mean the communion with the Successor
of Peter.

The Letter clearly states that the Church division is caused from the
outside by certain "entities". The anonymous use of this word is taken
as a conciliatory signal towards those entities such as CCCP or the
institutes that stand behind them, Some of them (e.g. some local
patriotic association at the provincial level) are doing good to the
Church, whereas others are doing harm to corrode the Church in every
sense.

Then, the Letter strongly disagrees with the principles of
independence and autonomy which are incompatible with Catholic doctrine.
And footnote 36 says that these principles are held by the CCCP as shown
in the third article of its statutes. This is a condemnation against
both its policies and its consequent operations without any extenuating
circumstances.

The Holy Father, of course, raises the hope and wants to reach the
hearts of people so that change may take place. No matter how grave the
limitations of freedom may be, people do have choice. In fact, the
faithfulness of the Catholics in China "at the price of grave
sufferings" is very much praised in the Letter.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. His promise
is powerful, though sometimes mysteriously hidden. We may not know what
exactly the next move is. The Holy Spirit certainly knows where to move.
The long-lived civilization in China is a sign of his move. The progress
today may have its shadows and lights, but people at the promptings of
the Holy Spirit will work for the values and freedom that they are
longing for at heart.

A non-practicing Catholic while not understanding much the Letter
understands the mysterious power behind the faith. Institutions or
entities do not have life in themselves. It is people that count. The
Church in her service for unity is given two pillars. One is Charity.
another Truth. The Letter strikes the tone of hope. It is on the Rock of
Peter that we find safety from "the attacks of the gates of the
netherworld".

Taken from:
L'Osservatore Romano
Weekly Edition in English
27 August 2008, page 11

L'Osservatore Romano is the newspaper of the Holy See.
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